Participation and engagement defined the third annual 1Day1USAFA day of giving on May 8, 2024. More than 3,100 donors, including over 2,000 graduates, demonstrated their support for the U.S. Air Force Academy by donating $3 million across 196 funds.

“This was a remarkable display of generosity. Over the course of just one day, many graduates, parents and friends stepped forward to make a difference at our Air Force Academy,” says Mark Hille ’97, CEO of the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation. “We are thankful for the support of so many and acknowledge the impact across the Academy and for our cadets.”

1Day1USAFA is coordinated by the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation as an extension of their mission: to support the Academy, serve graduates and preserve the heritage of the institution. The entire USAFA community — graduates, families and friends — engaged with challenges, matching gifts and friendly competitions. The day of giving was moved from August to May beginning this year.

This year, 1Day1USAFA featured a new, user-friendly online giving platform to clearly display giving opportunities, streamline donor participation and offer multiple payment methods. The website enabled donors to designate their gifts and seamlessly receive credit for multiple challenges, allowing graduates and parents to boost their standings while still supporting the causes they care about most. The website also featured interactive tools to make giving fun and engaging. Parents, graduates and USAFA supporters could earn an advocate incentive for peer-to-peer fundraising efforts. They also had the option to share videos and testimonials, as well as promote 1Day1USAFA through social media.

Travis Tucker ’93 used the new platform to share a video encouraging his classmates to join him in supporting the Falcon Foundation. “The [Falcon Foundation] scholarship I received allowed me to enter and graduate from USAFA, then complete 20 years of service,” he says. Tucker attended the New Mexico Military Institute as a Falcon Foundation scholar. His experience motivated him to give back, providing the same opportunity for future generations of candidates and cadets.

On 1Day1USAFA, participants backed several key priorities of the Defining Our Future comprehensive campaign in support of the Academy. The Institute for Future Conflict, an Academy-wide initiative to better prepare future warfighters, received over $32,000 from nearly 150 donors, shattering its fundraising goal for the day. Falcon Stadium, which is undergoing a transformation of its east side that is scheduled to open in time for the 2024 football season, generated over $240,000 in donor support.

More than 1,400 donors chose to give to the unrestricted Air Force Academy Fund, which supports a range of needs across the Academy as well as the Association and Foundation. Another 255 donors made gifts to the popular Cadet Wing Leadership and Morale Fund, a way to directly support the Cadet Wing through squadron improvements and morale-boosting events.

The Academy Oath Project, a new cadet club, benefited from a graduate’s matching gift. Donors gave over $43,000 to support the club, including a $16,000 match from Robert McNeal ’77. The club, dedicated to instilling a sense of duty and understanding of the Constitution among cadets, will use gift funds to continue its outreach across the Academy and to other service academies and ROTC programs nationwide. As the club matures, its leadership is also interested in hosting an annual symposium on democracy ethos and civilian-military relations.

“I took my oath of office extremely seriously. I do think it is something cadets should be thinking about pretty seriously before they take the oath as an officer,”

McNeal says of the project. He and his spouse, Jim Kinsella, decided on offering a matching gift to help spread awareness of the new club. “In our experience, one of the best ways to help is through a matching process. It increases the scope of support; it’s a means by which a number of other potential donors would become aware of the project.”

1Day1USAFA offered three class-based challenges to spark greater involvement, including a separate challenge for alumni who graduated between 2004 and 2023. Because class participation was calculated based on the number of donors, gifts of all sizes made a significant impact on class rankings.

As soon as the day began, competition between graduates was in full swing, with gifts coming in from all 66 classes, from 1959 through 2024. Classes from the first four decades fought for a spot in the top 10.

Ultimately, the Class of 1970 continued to set the bar for class participation, with 154 classmates stepping forward to demonstrate their class pride. The rest of the top 10 was filled with classes from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the Class of 1959.

Young alumni had a strong showing, with many younger graduates at the beginning of their careers stepping up to give back. Several graduates from the Class of 2023, not even a full year removed from the Academy, donated to support current cadets. The Class of 2010 ended the day in first place and maintained its high standard for young alumni engagement.

Graduates could also engage with several new promotions, including a matching gift opportunity to join the Sabre Society, a partnership with social media influencer Glorious Old Zoo, and the chance to earn a one-of-a-kind cadet PT shirt inscribed with “Live Honorably.”

In addition to the class-based contests, 1Day1USAFA featured a new class color competition. This challenge brought generations of graduates together, connecting them to current cadets, to demonstrate the power of philanthropy through the Long Blue Line. While gold classes put up a good fight with more than 480 donors participating, red classes claimed victory with over 670 graduates giving back.

Three prizes were awarded to the winning classes:

• The Class of 1970 was awarded $1,000 for its class agency fund for having the highest participation rate among classes
• between 1959 and 2003.
• The Class of 2010 was awarded $1,000 for its class agency fund for having the highest participation rate among classes
• between 2004 and 2023.
• The Class of 2026 was awarded $1,000 for its class agency fund because red classes had the greatest class color participation rate among graduates.

In 2023, a new parent challenge motivated many families to rally around their cadets in hopes of providing them with a morale-boosting pizza party. Due to its popularity, that challenge was available again for 1Day1USAFA in 2024, inspiring more than 540 parents and family members to make a gift.

“We are a tightknit group of parents,” says Kim Cheri, mother of Cadet 4th Class Colin Cheri. “I shared the 1Day1USAFA link with so many parents and others, and they were all so willing to help out. It’s money that is going toward cadets who will be defending our country. How can you not want to give to that?”

Other areas that received significant support include:

• A planned Tuskegee Airmen memorial at Davis Airfield, which will feature full-size models of a Tuskegee Airmen P-51 Mustang and the new T-7 Red Hawk jet trainer.
• The Class of 1994’s 30th reunion project supporting Hotel Polaris, which will open later this year at the Academy’s North Gate.
• The Class of 1984’s 40th reunion project, which will create an endowment to support the Academy’s 100+ cadet clubs.
• Rugby operations and endowment funds, spurred by an active group of rugby supporters, to sustain the men’s and women’s teams into the future.

“1Day1USAFA continues to be an enticing way for donors to support the Air Force Academy and feel the impact of their contribution,” says Kelly Banet, senior vice president for development at the Association and Foundation. “We try to make it engaging with challenges and competitions, yes; but when the day is over, the most important metric is that more than 3,000 graduates, family members and friends chose to make a difference in the development of tomorrow’s Air Force and Space Force officers. We’re grateful for their support.”